


Etheral Hope

by starktower



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint Barton Feels, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 21:44:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14656845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starktower/pseuds/starktower
Summary: After Thanos won, Tony and nebula go back to earth to prepare their mission to track thanos and perhaps fix everything, they pick up a certain hawk along the way





	Etheral Hope

**Author's Note:**

> I don't Own Anything.  
> Hope you enjoy this.  
> I woke up this morning and this idea wouldn't leave my head, so i thought why the hell not.

 

 

Tony stayed seated in the beaten up truck looking at the wooden house in contemplation, this was his last stop before having to go back up to space, Nebula was getting frustrated waiting for him in the Ship.

 He did not know what waited for him inside the house, he just hoped that someone, anyone, was in the house.

 The landscape around the farmhouse was more or less the same as he had seen the last time he, and the avengers, had come here for refuge.

 The grass was turning a shade of yellow; the cornfield was left alone to grow wildly.

 The ancient weeping willow that Tony parked under provided, with its huge sagging branches, shade from the intense rays of the sun.

 The only Sound around was the constant banging of the door of shed on the other side of the farmhouse as it swung wildly from the wind, hitting the wooden walls with a loud bang.

Tony sighed and got out of the Rusted Red Truck, he had found it abandoned on the side of the road next to where Tony and Nebula had stationed their spaceship trying not to bring attention to Barton’s farm. it was more probable that the driver had been among the unlucky ones to disappear, something Tony tries not to think about right now.

He took a moment to feel the harsh caress of the sun against his skin; he had missed it during his time in space. It has been almost three weeks since the fight and the soul crushing defeat against Thanos and a week since he came back to earth to repair his suit and get help on his and Nebula’s mission to go after Thanos. There was also that underlined hope that maybe they could fix all of this, that dangerous hope kept him going most of the times.

When he had told Pepper of the plan, she had just looked at him with a heartbreaking realization and glassy eyes from unshed tears; she only nodded her head in acceptance and gave his ring back to him.

It felt final.

It _was_ final.

Something else he lost to Iron Man.

Nevertheless, he could not bring himself to regret it; this was beyond him, beyond their relationship, beyond _everything_.

 This was about earning the name of Avenger and fixing this whole mess. Moreover, Pepper, _beautiful_ gorgeous pepper understood it, she did not blame him in the least, she only kissed him and told him to come back to her, she said she needed her _friend_ back.

And that was _it_.

That was what they will _always_ be, Friends.

He had looked for the others but to no avail, he hoped that they were okay, but seeing the destruction Thanos left behind, he did not dare hope.

So here was his last stop, his last hope.

His feet made a crunching sound as he walked towards the farmhouse, gravel, dried leaves littered the way, Tony ascended the stairs, and stood in front of the door, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Nothing.

He knocked again more forcefully.

Still Nothing.

“Please, Please don’t all be dead, please” he muttered to himself as he tried for the knob.

Surprisingly the door opened.

Despite the burning sun outside the house, darkness bathed the inside, the air felt stale and eerie.

 Tony let his eyes adjust a little bit, his breath caught at the sight of the trashed house, broken dishes covered the floor, the walls had several holes in them, and something that looked like blood covered some parts of it.

Arrows were sticking out of the broken TV.

That meant…

“Clint” he whispered.

Tony took the stairs two by two, heart beating fast, the Parents’ bedroom was empty, sheets thrown carelessly on the floor.

Tony turned and headed for the kids room.

There he was.

Tony let himself breathe a little bit at the sight of his friend.

Clint was laying on a twin bed looking small, he was clutching a blue cloth, what Tony came to realize was a baby blanket, he was crying as he met Tony’s eyes.

Total and utter despair.

Their last meeting was less than friendly, and the anger still lingered even years afterwards, but Tony could not just watch as his friend suffered alone.

 He moved wordlessly, laid behind Clint on the one-person bed, brought his arm around the grieving man, held him tight as the man’s whole body shook, and trembled with silent sobs.

Tony held him tighter when Clint turned towards tony and buried his face in Tony’s neck.

 He did not promise that things were going to be okay, he was not going to lie to him, not after the obvious loss, he just had, so he opted to just hold his friend as he grieved for his family and tony allowed himself to grieve for the loss of his family too.

_‘Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good’_

Tony tightened his hold vowed not to leave Clint behind at that moment scared of losing him too.

And wasn’t that a thought.

Who knew after the shitshow that were the Accords, that he would be holding the man that had spat so many hurtful things at him in the raft between his arms and praying to god to help him protect and do right by the man.

Tony buried his nose in Clint’s hair and closed his eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

“They’re gone, all of them… I couldn’t do _anything_ ” came the, rough from disuse, voice hours later.

Clint had fallen into a much needed slumber and Tony, arms numb and head buzzing with unwanted thoughts, couldn’t stay still any longer, he extracted himself from the man, and made his way downstairs to see if there was anything in the kitchen to make a meal for them.

A couple of hours later, a freshly showered Barton made his way downstairs, and spoke for the first time.

“I know,” responded Tony, not knowing what more to say.

Clint looked at him and seemingly saw something because he nodded and took a seat beside tony on the sofa, and started eating the now cold mashed potatoes and beans.

“Have you heard from the others yet?” slowly asked Tony, a big part of him dreading the answer.

Clint paused a second before resuming his eating.

“Yeah, they were in Wakanda last I spoke to them, Sam, Wanda, Vision, Bucky, T’Challa are all gone, Natasha called me to joined them in a mission to go look for Thor’s people, I _couldn’t_.”

Tony nodded silently, understanding the implication.

Sam.

T’Challa.

Vision.

Wanda.

Barnes.

“Jesus” exclaimed Tony, running a hand through his overgrown hair.

“They said you had been missing,” asked Clint nonchalantly, still eating and without making eye contact.

“Y-Yeah, the spider-kid, a couple of others and I, fought against some aliens that were trying to take the time stone. Anyways one thing led to another we found ourselves in a planet called Titan, the home world of Thanos. We fought him, we lost badly, next thing we knew he disappeared to get the final stone, which apparently he did, because a couple of minutes later, all the people that were with me started disintegrating. I could only watch, couldn’t do shit, Peter-” Tony caught himself because of the giant ball of emotions that was stuck in his throat.

He felt a rough hand come over his.

He slowly regained control over his breathing, Clint’s big warm hand helping tethering him to the real world.

Tony opened his closed eyes and flipped his hand, threading his fingers with Clint’s and the latter squeezed meaningfully, drawing a grateful smile from the distraught genius.

After a couple of moments of silence, Clint broke it.

“So, what’s the plan Tony”.

Tony looked at the archer long enough to see the new resolve filling the Sandy blond haired man’s still tired face, Tony let a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“How do you feel about going on a hunting trip?” asked tony.

Clint nodded and smiled halfheartedly “I think that saving people, hunting things, that’s avengers business”

Tony Snorted, surprising himself.

“Really? Supernatural?”

Clint only shrugged “It seems that they deal with the end of the world on a daily basis, I thought it was appropriate”

“Yeah it is” smiled Tony.

Clint sobered up afterwards and drew a breath.

“Do you think we can reverse this?” he asked not letting any emotion show in his voice.

“I think there is a higher chance of fixing this if we go after him, than there is if we stay here,” answered Tony, not wanting to give the man unsubstantiated hope.

The archer seemed to mull this over before he got up and grabbed a bag from inside the pantry.

He drew a breath and marched towards the door.

“What are we waiting for then?” and made his way out of the house.

Tony smiled a genuine smile for the first time in weeks.

“We’re coming for you Thanos,” whispered Tony to himself before he followed Clint.

“Hey, so who’s Dean and who’s Cas?” yelled Tony after Clint as he closed the Farmhouse’s door.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are Love.  
> Comments are Life.


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